It was early on the morning of Feb. 27, otherwise known as trade deadline day in the NHL, and the battery in Francois Giguere’s cellphone had been getting a workout for days. Offers were pouring in for some of his team’s players.

Maybe the first-year Avalanche general manager could be suckered into giving up a Paul Stastny, a Wojtek Wolski or a John- Michael Liles – players who might be trade bait for an established, quick-fix player to spark his 29-29-5 team.

Who could blame Giguere for wanting to do something radical? It looked like the Avs would miss the playoffs for the first time since moving to Denver. Fans were restless, some angry, over the losses of so many star players in recent years. “Do something!” they yelled into talk show telephone handsets and typed onto Web message boards.

Yet, Giguere chose to do next to nothing. The excoriation he faced has morphed into appreciation from Avalanche fans and the players he kept around. Since the clock struck on the deadline, the Avalanche has posted the second-best record in the NHL, going 26-7-3 in 36 games. Only the Ottawa Senators, at 26-5-5, have a better mark.

The Avs went on a 15-2-2 run, starting with a 3-2 victory over Columbus on trade deadline day. They missed the playoffs by one point, but vowed to carry the same kind of play into this season. Nobody expected their 11-5-1 start, but the Avs are off to their best start after 17 games since their Stanley Cup-winning season of 2000-01, when they went 12-2-3.

For Giguere, it has been a case of faith rewarded.

“At the end of the day, we’re a staff and you have to trust your instincts and your staff’s instincts,” Giguere said, seated in his office at the Avs’ practice facility. “There were some offers for some of our younger kids or some of our older, character players. But there comes a point where you believe in some things, and you have to have enough confidence and faith to go with it.”

Avalanche captain Joe Sakic has seen a lot of blockbuster trades happen at the deadline over the years, and was braced for anything. When the only deals announced were Brad May to Anaheim and Scott Parker from San Jose, Sakic said a newfound spirit of resolve formed in the Avs’ dressing room.

“I think maybe it gave us some confidence. We knew we could be a good hockey team, and we still had a chance to prove it,” Sakic said.

Nobody with the Avalanche is getting self-satisfied right now, however. Not making the playoffs for the first time since 1994 still stings for many longtime personnel, and there are 65 more games needed to prove the Avs are playoff worthy this season.

But the Avs feel they have a solid foundation in place for another possible long succession of playoff runs. Not only do they have one of the brightest young stars in the league in Stastny, but youngsters such as Wolski, Liles, Peter Budaj and Marek Svatos already have had NHL success. Add veterans such as Sakic, Milan Hejduk, Andrew Brunette, Ian Laperriere and free-agent newcomers Ryan Smyth and Scott Hannan, and the Avs again have one of the deepest teams in the league.

The cupboard of prospects, in junior and minor pro leagues, is much better than the past, and the Avs have an owner, Stan Kroenke, with some of the deepest pockets in pro sports.

“We know our athletes very well,” Giguere said. “We see things in them that maybe our fans don’t have a chance sometimes to see. We feel we see the big picture well now. But there’s still room to grow. We have to stay even-keeled.”

It appeared the Avs were in decline after Patrick Roy, the winningest goalie of all time, retired in 2003, and the team lost stars such as Peter Forsberg, Adam Foote and Rob Blake, mostly for salary cap reasons. Now there is a growing buzz around the league that the once-mighty Avs are back on top again.

“I think they’ve got a team that’s better suited to the new style of game now,” said former Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman, a Hall of Famer. “What I really like about Colorado is how their defensemen are all pretty mobile and can move the puck. You see some teams now, and they can’t get the puck up the ice fast enough. They’ve got some guys back there that can skate and pass the puck.”

Said NBC hockey analyst and former coach Pierre McGuire: “Colorado’s a better team now. Stastny is the real thing, and Ryan Smyth was a great pickup. They’re still not like the powerhouse Colorado teams of old, but it’s a real good, developing team.”

Joel Quenneville, who has posted a 98-66 record with 17 overtime losses since taking over as Avs coach, says his team learned how to win after the trade deadline.

“At that time, we had some issues with how games were getting out of our fingertips,” he said. “Knowing that we had it in our control, had it in our hands, and let it slip away. There were so many games with similar and frustrating endings. I think we’ve been finding the alternative to those types of games. We seem to be closing out now. I think when the game is on the line, we’re more effective and efficient, and we definitely built off the confidence of getting a few wins after that.”

Five keys to the Avalanche’s surge

Going back to last season’s trade deadline in February, Colorado has won 26 of 36 games and is off to its best start since it last won the Stanley Cup.

1. Keeping the faith. New GM Francois Giguere could have blown up his struggling team at last season’s trade deadline, but he didn’t, and his players have responded with appreciation.

2. The Stastny factor. It can’t be overemphasized how important Paul Stastny has become to the Avs. He is excellent at both ends of the ice and has hockey smarts well beyond his years.

3. Commitment to defense. The Avs still are not the stingiest team. But with the help of Kurt Sauer, they are much tougher to skate against than they were the first two-thirds of last season.

4. Goaltending. Peter Budaj, above, was terrific down the stretch last season, and Jose Theodore appears to be regaining some of the form that won him the Hart Trophy in 2002.

5. Veteran leadership. Joe Sakic, above, is captain for a reason. But Ryan Smyth, Scott Hannan, Andrew Brunette and Ian Laperriere also have helped form a solid locker room presence.

Avs after 17

The Avalanche’s records after 17 games, starting with the 1995-96 season:

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